SURVIVING THE TRUTH, Sharon Coleman Monroe’s first novel, is about Laura, a 50-something woman who discovers family secrets, loses her husband, wins some cash and learns that helping others isn’t as easy as she thought it would be. The family secrets shatter the idyllic image she and her sister Susan had about their childhood in Kerrville, Texas. The loss of her husband in the mountains of Wyoming shatters her confidence in herself and reality shatters her ideas about giving to others. Laura and Susan begin a journey to expose the secrets, come to terms with the loss of Laura’s husband, James, and discover that throwing money at problems doesn’t necessarily solve them. Chocolate and Pinot Noir take the edge off their problems but that combination comes with its own set of difficulties.

Auszug. � Genehmigter Nachdruck. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.

Surviving the Truth

By Sharon Coleman Monroe

AuthorHouse

Acknowledgements, vii, 
Chapter One, 1, 
Chapter Two, 8, 
Chapter Three, 16, 
Chapter Four, 24, 
Chapter Five, 28, 
Chapter Six, 35, 
Chapter Seven, 45, 
Chapter Eight, 57, 
Chapter Nine, 67, 
Chapter Ten, 74, 
Chapter Eleven, 83, 
Chapter Twelve, 90, 
Chapter Thirteen, 101, 
Chapter Fourteen, 110, 
Chapter Fifteen, 118, 
Chapter Sixteen, 126, 
Chapter Seventeen, 134, 
Chapter Eighteen, 141, 
Chapter Nineteen, 156, 
Chapter Twenty, 164, 
Chapter Twenty-one, 170, 
Chapter Twenty-two, 178, 
Chapter Twenty-three, 187, 
Chapter Twenty-four, 197, 
Chapter Twenty-five, 202, 
Chapter Twenty-six, 210, 
Chapter Twenty-seven, 220, 
Chapter Twenty-eight, 229,

CHAPTER 1

Saturday

"DAMN. YOU. SORRY. SACK. OF. SHI ...!" The old guy in theLexus did it again! He tailed closely for a few miles, changed to thepassing lane, sped around, turned into the slow lane again and thenslowed to exactly the speed limit! "Jackass!

It's too damn hard to quit cussing. Swearing was an issue for 53 year-oldLaura Gregory. What started off at college in West Texas with a few"hells" and "damns" in the late '70s evolved into an extensive repertoireof profanity that now colored most of her speech. She always got a kickout of the swearing scenes in Whoopie Goldberg movies.

The necessity to change her speaking habits was highlighted atchurch when she was talking to Father Pete during coffee hour afterservice. She mentioned "raising a butt-load of money" selling cookbooksat the annual Aspen Falls Spring Celebration and Father Pete's slightlyraised right eyebrow was enough to let her know the swearing had to stop!Damn! Maybe "butt-load" should be replaced by "boat-load".

So, a road trip was exactly what she needed to concentrate onamending her language. She even googled "How to stop swearing!" Whata load of crap! It reminded her of Nancy Reagan and "Just Say No"!Some words are definitely forbidden. "G.d." is not acceptable because oneshould never take the Lord's name in vain; which also ruled out usingthe name of any other members of the Holy Family. "Son of a bitch"and the related word "bastard" aren't applicable because they actually"dis" the mother of the target instead of the target himself. All the wordspertaining to bodily functions can be used quite expressively and the"f-bomb" is the most versatile of all!

Twice a year, late spring and mid-October, Laura drove 900 milesfrom Aspen Falls, Wyoming to Sinclair, Kansas to visit her younger sisterSusan. A few times her husband James went along but after a handful ofdisagreements because he didn't want to be there in the first place, Laurastarted going by herself. He seemed happy to stay home with his tools andwood carvings and the dog; and her visits were a lot more fun withouthaving to worry about cranky James. The long drive-time each way wastherapeutic. Sometimes satellite radio helped pass the time but mostlythe quiet allowed her to sift through all the junk that had piled up inher head over the past months and dispose of the negativity. She alwaysfelt clear-headed and ready to "face the day" when she returned from aKansas road trip.

Fort Collins, Colorado lies halfway between Sinclair and AspenFalls. It is nestled against the foothills of the Front Range of the RockyMountains, and is about as far as Laura can drive before her knee startsto protest. Arthroscopic surgery was recommended to clean out the debrisfloating around in her right knee but she never took the time for thesurgery. The Alpenvale Inn was her favorite place to stay and just before6:00 in afternoon she checked into the log-cabin style, two-storey motel.Room 112 was on the backside of the building and unloading took twotrips; one to unlock the door and check out the room and the other tobring in a suitcase and the loaded pistol she kept in the arm rest betweenthe front seats.

Laura had been around guns all her life. Handguns, shotguns andrifles were a common sight at her childhood home in Kerrville, Texas.Her father, Andy Billings, enjoyed hunting the white-tailed deer hidingin the oak motts throughout the Hill Country and Laura and Susan bothbagged their first eight-point bucks before they were 12! Andy's gift toeach of his daughters on their eighteenth birthday was a .38 Special. Theyhad been target shooting under his supervision for years.

Laura didn't need to change clothes to go to dinner. Fort Collinswasn't Vail or Aspen; and jeans, a pull-over sweatshirt and hair pulledback into a Kansas University ball-cap were just fine. After putting herfeet up for a brief look at a news channel she locked the handgun in theroom-safe and walked across the parking lot to the Alpenvale Restaurant.The pot roast was savory; the vegetables were tender and crusty bread andsalad made everything just right.

It was early evening and the restaurant faced due west, so exiting wasdirectly into the blinding mountain sunset. Laura lowered her sunglassesfrom the brim of her cap and walked back toward the motel. Halfwaythere the urge for something sweet made her wish she had ordereddessert.

A convenience store/liquor store was across the street so she walkedover and bought a sudoku puzzle book, a Hershey Bar, a pony bottle ofPinot Noir and a 12-drawing, multi-state lottery ticket. Buying lotterytickets never required pondering numbers or a Quick Pick. Years ago shewon $500 playing the numbers 6, 8, 17, 29, 42 and 46. Those numberscame from a fortune cookie she got with some take-out Chinese food.She won several more times; never as much as the $500 first-time ticket,but enough to keep choosing the same numbers. Throwing everythinginto her slouchy shoulder bag Laura walked back across the street andthrough the door of 112. She got ready for bed and called James.

"Hey, Babe!"

"Hey, yourself! Are you in Fort Collins?"

"Yeah, I got here about six. I've already eaten and I'm fixin' to go tobed. How's everything?"

"Good, everything's good. We had some excitement. A bear brokeinto the shed early this morning and I think he was trying to get into thefreezer! I'm sure glad I put that lock on it. I woke up to Jo-Jo, barking likea maniac. The motion-detector lights came on and I saw the double doorsto the workshop were wide open and one was hanging from a bent hinge.I turned on the back flood lights and stood in the doorway and startedhonking the air horn. I guess that was enough to scare it away because hecame out of the shed and waddled on off toward the tree line. If I'd goneout on the deck I would have grabbed the gun but it didn't seem like itwas interested in me at all."

Spring and late fall are the most dangerous times for bear attacks.Securing your garbage and not leaving out pet food or filling bird feedersduring active bear season are the best ways to avoid a bear encounter.

"How big was it? Did it mess up your work bench?" For the next 15minutes James talked about his world! He never asked about Susan or thetrip or anything else. These conversations weren't unusual and Laura wasused to the disinterest concerning most everything else but the dog andhis woodworking projects!

"Well, I'm going to bed. Tomorrow I only have to drive 370 miles soI should be home early afternoon."

"Okay, it'll be good to have you home. Drive careful, I'll see youtomorrow, bye".

And he hung up. No "I love you"...

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